Meet the Team Behind the Strategy

Chrysalis is led by former executives, scientists, and commercial leaders who’ve launched category-defining platforms and guided strategic growth across diagnostics, genomics, and precision health.

Our Leadership

Our leadership team sets the firm's strategic vision, translating deep domain expertise in life sciences into actionable business strategies.
Partner & Managing Director

Colin brings deep industry practice and leadership experience in scaling high-growth genomic and diagnostic businesses. At Illumina, he architected the scaling of the sequencing consumables business from $7M to nearly $1B, overseeing 35 major product launches over six year period. Later, as Head of Global Product Management at QIAGEN, he led the Life Sciences Assay portfolio and guided key strategic acquisitions. At Chrysalis, Colin advises innovators and investors on product-market fit, commercial scaling, and M&A integration, helping clients translate technical breakthroughs into sustainable market dominance.

FOCUS AREAS: cell & gene therapies, single cell 'omics, synthetic biology, corporate portfolio planning, market landscaping

Colin A. Baron, MBA

Partner & Managing Director
FOCUS AREAS: cell & gene therapies, single cell 'omics, synthetic biology, corporate portfolio planning, market landscaping
Partner & Managing Director

Rob brings deep market, commercial, and strategic experience to the Chrysalis team. Before co-founding Chrysalis Biomedical Advisors, he spent nearly a decade at Illumina in senior marketing roles, building investment cases and market-specific solutions across forensics, genetic disease, reproductive health, oncology, and agrigenomics. He also led the Actionable Genome Consortium, uniting leading cancer centers to define standards for clinical NGS tumor sequencing. Earlier, Rob held strategic and commercial roles at Applied Biosystems, Agilent Technologies, and Front Line Strategic Management Consulting.

FOCUS AREAS: oncology diagnostics, PCR & dPCR technologies, laboratory automation, pharma development, infectious disease, market & revenue forecasting, agrigenomics, forensic genomics.

Robert D. Cohen, MBA

Partner & Managing Director
FOCUS AREAS: oncology diagnostics, PCR & dPCR technologies, laboratory automation, pharma development, infectious disease, market & revenue forecasting, agrigenomics, forensic genomics.
Partner & Managing Director

Jordan brings a unique mix of technical and commercial experience to the Chrysalis team. Before co-founding Chrysalis Biomedical Advisors, Jordan was Vice President of Marketing at Syapse, serving healthcare providers with enterprise software to deploy and scale precision oncology programs. Previously, Jordan was Director of Marketing for the Enterprise Informatics Business Unit at Illumina where he led commercial efforts to democratize genome-scale sequencing and the analysis of genomic data.

FOCUS AREAS: bioinformatics, spatial biology, high-throughput proteomics, product and corporate positioning, market access, clinical evidence generation.

Jordan D. Stockton, Ph.D.

Partner & Managing Director
FOCUS AREAS: bioinformatics, spatial biology, high-throughput proteomics, product and corporate positioning, market access, clinical evidence generation.

Colin A. Baron, MBA

Partner & Managing Director
About Colin

Drawing on over 15 years experience in genomics discovery and translational research, Colin co-founded Chrysalis Biomedical Advisors in 2016. Prior to Chrysalis, Colin served as Senior Director, Head of Global Product Management at QIAGEN  and was responsible for driving development, commercial strategy, and marketing for Next Generation Sequencing and Single Cell platforms.

Previously, Colin held numerous positions at Illumina, joining the former Solexa team shortly after its acquisition. During his 6-year tenure, he managed the company’s NGS sequencing chemistry portfolio and led over 35 major sequencing platform launches, ranging from the the Genome Analyzer II to the NextSeq and HiSeq X10 systems. He also designed and developed Clinical & Translational products for Illumina’s BeadXpress Diagnostic platform, as well as Illumina’s premium line of LDT-focused sequencing products.

Prior to Illumina, Colin held several Academic Core Lab management positions at UC Davis, including bioinformatics analysis and clinical tissue and serum biobanking for an NCI-designated Biobank. Colin graduated from UC Davis in 2001 with a double major in Microbiology and Economics.  He earned his MBA from the UC Davis Graduate School of Management in 2008.

Colin is an avid traveler, enjoys British dramatic theatre, and loves having his German pronunciation corrected by his 3 year old son.

Education
University of California, Davis - Graduate School of Management
MBA, Marketing and Finance
University of California, Davis
Bachelor of Science (BS), Microbiology, General

Robert D. Cohen, MBA

Partner & Managing Director
About Robert

Rob has been in the Life Sciences industry for more than 20 years. He co-founded Chrysalis Biomedical Advisors after 15+ years in product marketing and business development leadership positions at Applied Biosystems, Agilent Technologies, and Illumina. Rob has worked extensively with customers, commercial and R&D teams to identify, justify, launch and support new products and services across basic and applied markets.

Most recently, Rob led a team to design and launch Illumina’s Propel Core Lab certification program, in addition to leading the Actionable Genome Consortium – a high-profile, global effort to define standards for clinical tumor sequencing. 

Prior to joining industry, Rob spent two years at Front Line Strategic Management Consulting (now Navigant Consulting) servicing life science and biopharmaceutical clients. Additionally, he spent 4 years as a senior molecular biology technician at UCLA characterizing mouse models of lipid metabolism and running the core lab, and at the University of Wisconsin’s McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research.

Rob graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1992 with a Bachelor of Science. He earned his MBA from the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business in 1999 with a focus in Entrepreneurship and Strategic Human Resource Management.

Rob enjoys spending time with his family and playing any sport with a racquet or club.

Education
USC Marshall School of Business
MBA, Entrepreneurship and Strategic Human Resource Management
University of Wisconsin-Madison
BS, Premedicine, German Literature

Jordan D. Stockton, Ph.D.

Partner & Managing Director
About Jordan

Jordan brings a unique mix of technical and commercial experience to the Chrysalis team. Before co-founding Chrysalis Biomedical Advisors, Jordan was Vice President of Marketing at Syapse, serving healthcare providers with enterprise software to deploy and scale precision oncology programs.

Previously, Jordan was Director of Marketing for the Enterprise Informatics Business Unit at Illumina where he led commercial efforts to democratize genome-scale sequencing and the analysis of genomic data.

In addition, Jordan held the roles of Market Manager for Microarray Gene Expression Products and Platform Manager for Bioinformatics Software at Agilent Technologies. He began his professional career at Silicon Genetics where he launched the GeneSpring software product line, which was foundational in standardizing analytical methods for interpreting microarray data.

Jordan completed his undergraduate studies at Grinnell College. He later received a Ph.D. in chemistry from Georgetown University where he studied the cellular machinery that enables cotranslational protein translocation in the rough endoplasmic reticulum.

He enjoys competitive cycling and skiing, and he secretly hopes that his two children will never fully grow up.

Education
Georgetown University
Ph. D., Chemistry
Grinnell College
BA, Chemistry

Our Affiliates

Our extended network of Specialty Advisors represents a curated cohort of experts, each providing deep, focused expertise across critical functional areas.

Pranil K. Chandra, D.O.

Molecular & Clinical Pathology

Glenn George D.Sc., MS, MLS (ASCP)

Clinical Diagnostic Laboratories

Steven Lee, Ph.D.

Forensic Genomics

Bruce Quinn, MD-Ph.D, MBA

Health Policy

Michael S. Sherman, MD, MBA, MS

Reimbursement

Jennifer Gardy, Ph.D.

Infectious Disease & Public Health

Arshad Ahmed, MBA

Digital Innovation & Transformation

David Kern, MBA, RAC

Regulatory

Viktor Adalsteinsson, Ph.D.

Cancer Molecular Diagnostics

Pranil K. Chandra, D.O.

Molecular & Clinical Pathology

Dr. Chandra is the Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Genomic and Clinical Pathology Services at PathGroup. Recognized as a national thought leader in Precision Medicine and Cancer Genomics, he oversees operations for a laboratory providing over 12 million annual tests. Dr. Chandra holds board certifications in anatomic, clinical, and molecular genetic pathology, having completed fellowships at MD Anderson Cancer Center where he served as Chief Fellow. He has received numerous awards for his research and authored multiple peer-reviewed articles. Dr. Chandra completed his AP/CP training at NYU Langone Medical Center.

Glenn George D.Sc., MS, MLS (ASCP)

Clinical Diagnostic Laboratories

Glenn has been working in the clinical laboratory profession since 2002. Glenn was the Director of Clinical Laboratories for a multi-hospital system in Kenosha Wisconsin, a CLIA director for an urgent care center, and a professor of Medical Laboratory Sciences for two University of Wisconsin schools. Glenn also works as an independent consultant for clinical laboratories and as expert testimony/advisor in pathology malpractice cases. His research experiences include transcriptional analysis of select agents, characterizations of antimicrobial peptides, and early biomarkers of graft versus host disease for solid tissue transplants.

Steven Lee, Ph.D.

Forensic Genomics

Steve is a Professor at Florida International University and Professor Emeritus at San Jose State University, leveraging over 25 years of leadership in forensic genomics. His work focuses on advancing public safety through the validation of emerging genomic tools, including massively parallel sequencing. Previously holding senior roles at Illumina and the CA Department of Justice, Steve has secured over $3 million in funding and delivered over 200 scientific presentations. He received the 2014 AAFS Criminalistics Meritorious Service Award and served as co-chair of the 2022 Gordon Research Conference on Forensic Analysis of Human DNA.Steve holds a PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of California, Berkeley.

Bruce Quinn, MD-Ph.D, MBA

Health Policy

Dr. Quinn is a nationally-recognized expert on health reform, innovation, and Medicare policy. He is a sought-after speaker, presenting at numerous healthcare and investment conferences. He is also the author of the Discoveries in Health Policy blog which has been cited in major trade journals, has 100K+ hits per year and hosts 1,000+ articles. He holds an MD-Ph.D from Stanford University, completed a postdoctoral fellowship at MIT, and is a UCLA-trained board certified pathologist. He holds an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management in Health, Finance and Strategy.

Michael S. Sherman, MD, MBA, MS

Reimbursement

Dr. Michael Sherman serves as chief medical officer and senior vice president for health services for Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, a not-for-profit health plan that has been recognized by NCQA as one of the top health plans in the nation for over a decade. A pioneer in developing outcomes-based payment agreements with pharmaceutical companies that go beyond the historical “pay for pill” approach and tie reimbursement to patient outcomes, he recently signed the first value-based agreement for a gene therapy used to treat a form of blindness.

Jennifer Gardy, Ph.D.

Infectious Disease & Public Health

Dr. Jennifer Gardy is a pioneer in the field of using NGS as a tool to reconstruct outbreaks of infectious disease. She is currently the Deputy Director, Surveillance, Data, and Epidemiology in Malaria for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  She leads strategy and investment in data-driven decision making, genetic and genomic epidemiology, and math modelling for improved malaria control worldwide. Before joining the BMGF,  she had a ten-year career in academic research, where she held the Canada Research Chair in Public Health Genomics at the University of British Columbia.

Arshad Ahmed, MBA

Digital Innovation & Transformation

Arshad is the founder of Zaylan Associates, a strategy consulting practice specializing in digital innovation within life sciences. Partnering closely with Chrysalis, he advises on digital transformation spanning clinical trials to commercial engagement for clients such as Novartis and Philips. Previously, Arshad served as Vice President of Strategy at Danaher, where he led the strategy for transformative acquisitions including Pall Corporation, and was a founding Partner at Scientia Advisors. Arshad holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois and an MBA in Finance and Business Strategy from the University of Chicago.

David Kern, MBA, RAC

Regulatory

Dave is the Founder and Principal at K2 Regulatory Consulting. During his 25+ years in the life sciences and medical device industries, Dave has held positions in Product Development, Program Management, Alliance Management, and most recently, Regulatory Affairs. Before starting K2 Regulatory Consulting, Dave was Head of Regulatory Affairs at Illumina, where he also served as the interim Head of Clinical and Medical Affairs. There Dave build a global regulatory organization, with offices in China, Australia, and the UK. He also led the regulatory efforts to bring Illumina their first PMA product approval for the Extended RAS Panel Test in 2017.

Viktor Adalsteinsson, Ph.D.

Cancer Molecular Diagnostics

Viktor Adalsteinsson is the Associate Director of the Gerstner Center for Cancer Diagnostics at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. His research involves developing molecular methods for cancer detection, response monitoring, and genomic characterization, with a strong emphasis on liquid biopsies. Together with his collaborators, he has analyzed over 15,000 liquid biopsy samples. In 2017, Dr. Adalsteinsson was recognized as one of MIT Technology Review’s “Innovators Under 35,” and in 2021, he was recognized as one of Clinical Omics’ “Pioneers Under 40.” Dr. Adalsteinsson holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from MIT.

Team